Armor highlighting in our game often becomes the subject of discussion. Situations, when you can't penetrate an armor plate which is not highlighted in red, are by far the most controversial. One of the reasons for such failed shots was an issue that caused some inaccuracy of armor highlighting: when a chance of piercing the armor for the selected shell exceeded 50%, the armor plate could stay unhighlighted in several situations (very annoying situations!)

To minimize the number of these cases, we are refining the armor highlighting: it will reflect the chance of penetration way more accurately. This fix will be added to the game in one of the upcoming updates.

We've kept working on the highlighting system and eventually decided to go a little further than just correcting the existing issue. We tried to improve the displaying of armor zones so that it became more intuitive and clear for both new and experienced players. We also tried to reduce the armor piercing value spread from ± 15% to ± 5%. We suggest that you participate in the Open Testing and try this set of new features by your own. Please note that your feedback is essential: these changes are by no means final, and it is important for us to understand how comfortable the new approach is for you.

More info about the changes

Fixed armor highlighting accuracy

Inability to penetrate the unhighlighted armor is not caused by armor plating issues or errors in shell armor-piercing values. Sometimes, the highlighting system itself indicated the penetration chances in a wrong way. For example, the armor plate could stay unhighlighted, even though the piercing performance of the shell was insufficient for the guaranteed penetration under those circumstances. We are improving the highlighting system to make it more accurate when displaying the penetration chances, so we'll be able to minimize the number of "faulty shots" to unhighlighted plates (as well as penetrations at deep-red highlighted zones). This improvement will be certainly added to the game in one of the further updates.

±15% spread of penetration value reduced to ±5%

Not so far ago we discussed ±15% of penetration value: is it enough, should the random chances be changed or even removed from the game, and what changes it could cause. On the one hand, decreasing of the randomness would make the gameplay more obvious, on the other hand, the "RNG" sometimes allows you to carry out battles when the odds are against you.
Your opinions were divided. So, as a compromise and as a part of the experiment, we reduced the range of piercing performance for all shell types from ± 15% to ± 5%. We suggest you test this change and leave your feedback.

Revamped armor highlighting

We've experimented with the highlighting and decided to make it more visual. Currently, you can evaluate the chance of successful penetration by checking the brightness of red highlight over the armor. But, some tints of this red gradient might be barely distinguishable, and it's sometimes hard to determine whether you can penetrate the armor with some chance or not.
We've implemented the two-color scheme, similar to the HE shell highlighting pattern. Yellow gradient marks armor zones that can be pierced within ±5% range of the penetrating value, and the red color highlights the armor which by no means can be penetrated by the selected shell type. Thus, unhighlighted zones can be pierced even with -5% of penetration performance. The new color scheme differs significantly from the current system, so we suggest you test it as well.

We need your feedback!

The reduced spread of armor penetration and two-color armor highlighting system are designed to make shooting more convenient and predictable. However, these changes are crucial parts of the game mechanics. At first, the new armor highlighting system might seem uncomfortable and a bit unusual. That’s why we are welcoming you to participate in the Open Test and leave your feedback on our official Forum or Discord server. Depending on your opinions, we will decide the future of these changes.
Attention! This is not a test of the next version of the game. We are just testing new features that can be added to the game in one of the following updates.

Open Test schedule and terms

Players who fought at least 5,000 battles on the EU server are allowed to apply for the Open Test participation.Your account should be linked to the phone number. The last 7 digits of your phone number will serve as a password to access the test server.

The test server will be available from March 24, 12:00 PM (UTC) through March 26, 9:00 AM (UTC).

So, are the situations, in which tanks are not penetrated even though it seems they should, going to be eliminated completely?

Armor highlighting is still a hint for players, but not a guaranteed targeting system. Please keep in mind that:

If the enemy tank you are aiming at is moving / rotating, its armor plates are displacing continuously relative to your gun, so the effective thickness of the armor plate can become too high for a successful penetration before the shell reaches it. Alternatively, a ricochet might occur if the striking angle gets too large.

When you are aiming at the specific spot of the tank, the whole armor plate is highlighted, but its overall color / tint indicates the chance of piercing the armor in that specific armor spot only. (We tried to implement chance-depending gradient highlighting within each armor plate, but no mobile devices can handle this feature with any appropriate framerate). So, if the shell hits the armor within the aiming circle, but not at the reticle center / aiming spot, the penetration can fail, especially in case of plates with irregular form (for example, IS-7's lower front plate when attacked from the side).

Highlighting helps you evaluate the chance of piercing the armor plate you are looking at directly. It does not indicate the aggregate chance to penetrate the whole armor complex, if any (e.g., hull shield + front hull armor for SuperPershing or hull skirting plate + side hull armor for a number of Soviet tanks). You should learn the internals of hard-to-penetrate vehicles to increase your shooting efficiency.

However, the new highlighting scheme is more accurate and informative than the old one, and reduced range of piercing value can decrease the number of strange shots without damage.

Hello! The current test will be postponed due to several issues with the new armor highlighting system that we discovered today. Please follow this topic and/or our Discord server for the future updates.

You won't have to apply for the test again. We apologize for any inconvenience.